Cooking therapy from a former travel nurse

I am in week four of my year of me and so far I am down 5 pounds. Not exactly where I want to be, but it’s better than five pounds up, I guess. I am still having a hard time eating all the points I’m given. Part of the problem is reminding myself to eat breakfast. I’m just not hungry until about 11:00 and by then, it’s lunch time. I am eating breakfast most days, but since I am choosing healthy options, I only tend to spend 5 or 6 points on that meal. My snacks are usually veggies or fruit or the rare baked chips and salsa. Lunch is usually light, consisting of a turkey sandwich or fish and sauteed veggies, dinner is the most points heavy with 10-11 points. All told, I generally eat 27-29 points per day.

I really am trying to convince myself that it’s not about the weight, it’s about getting healthy. Really, that is my goal, but part of being healthy is not being so overweight. I want to start seeing the results of all my efforts. I want my body to fall into line and start dropping weight that reflects the changes I’ve made. I want to feel like I can use my flex points one week and not worry that it’ll mean that I gain weight. Normal people eat queso once in a while and don’t have to sweat that it will undo all of the healthy choices they’ve made that week. I read on the Weight Watchers site that they want you to use their flex points and that the program is designed for you to use them and still lose weight, but I just don’t trust that it will happen, yet. Maybe once I have a loss over three pounds, I’ll believe it. Although, knowing me, it’ll just make me more driven to work harder and go for 4 pounds.

Look, I know I didn’t get here overnight and I’m not going to reach my goal in a blink either. I’m just sharing with you, cyberworld, the frustrations that come with changing one’s life. I blame this latest mood swing on the gym showing the best places for nachos on the big screen t.v.!

Why is my lasagna a miracle? Well, for one, it is Weight Watchers reasonable. Secondly (and most unbelievably), it has vegetables that went undetected by my husband, who NEVER eats vegetables. Oh sure, he picked the big chunks of vegetable out, but the ones in the sauce actually made it where no vegetable has gone before. I found the recipe in a special issue of Cuisine Magazine called Cuisine Lite. I made one or two modifications to suit my taste, so feel free to do the same.

Total WW points for one serving (and the servings are pretty large) is 10 points! Bonus is that there are so many vegetables in there, so you’ll get to track all those power foods!

Three-Cheese Turkey Lasagna

adapted from Cuisine Lite

9 dry lasagna sheets

large container of baby spinach

3/4 pound ground turkey breast

1 tsp. canola oil

1/2 cup each chopped onion and carrot

12 ounces mushrooms, divided and chopped into medium pieces

4 cloves garlic

1/2 red bell pepper, diced

1/2 yellow pepper, diced

1/2 zucchini, diced

1 can low-sodium diced tomatoes, drained (14.5 ounces)

1 Tbs. dried Italian herbs

1/2 tsp red pepper flakes

1/4 tsp. black pepper

kosher salt, to taste

1 can low-sodium tomato sauce (8 oz), divided

1 1/2 cups 2% cottage cheese

1 1/2 cups shredded part-skim mozzarella, divided (8 oz)

1 egg

1/4 cup shredded Parmesan Reggiano

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.

Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Add lasagna sheets to the boiling water. Cook for 8 minutes, drain and rinse with cold water to stop the cooking.

Brown the turkey in a large non-stick skillet coated with non-stick spray, over medium-high heat. Mince onion, carrot, mushrooms, and garlic in a food processor or Ninja blender, add it to browned turkey in a skillet. Cook until vegetables soften, 5 minutes. Stir in diced tomatoes, dried herbs, pepper flakes, and black pepper. Simmer for 3 minutes.

In a large skillet, saute remaining mushrooms (cut into medium pieces), red and yellow bell pepper, and zucchini with 1 tsp olive oil, until browned and tender. Add spinach and cook until wilted. Remove from heat.

Spread 2 Tbsp. tomato sauce in the bottom of an 8-inch, 2 quart square baking dish. Add remaining tomato sauce to bolognese in skillet, stir until combined. Remove the bolognese from heat and set aside.

Pulse cottage cheese, 1 cup mozzarella, and the egg in a food processor until smooth; set aside.

Layer 4 lasagna sheets over the tomato sauce, overlapping sheets and cutting ends off to fit. Reserve cut pieces for top layer. Spread 1/3 of the bolognese over lasagna sheets; top with half of the cheese sauce followed by half of the vegetable/spinach mix. Repeat layers and top with another 1/3 of the bolognese, remaining cheese sauce and remaining veggie/spinach mix.. Top with remaining whole lasagna sheet and cut lasagna pieces, remaining bolognese, remaining 1/2 cup mozzarella and the Parmesan. Bake the lasagna for 25 minutes until the topping is browned. Remove from the oven and let rest for 15 minutes before slicing and serving.

Cut lasagna into 6 servings. Enjoy!

Notes: We were not able to use all of the cheese and sauce because our square baker was not tall enough. The result was still plenty filling and plenty tasty.

Eating healthier has me eating mostly fish and chicken, but once in a while, you need some meat! I have picked up a few new cooking magazines to give me inspiration and was happy to see a recipe for chipotle rubbed flank steak with a apricot whiskey glaze in my Cuisine Lite Magazine. I grilled the steak on my cast iron grill along with a mushroom medley of portabello, crimini, and baby bella mushrooms. I sliced it thin and made a sandwich using Oroweat Sandwich thins, spinach leaves and an ounce of brie. It was the perfect midnight dinner for my night shift at work, but I’d bet it would work any other time, too.

Of course, I started to photograph it for the blog, but then was in a hurry to finish it up before work and didn’t get a picture of the finished sandwich, but I think the meat speaks for itself.

Total Weight Watchers points: 13

What I used (adapted from the Cuisine Lite recipe)

1 1/2 pound trimmed flank steak (non tenderized)

1/4 cup apricot preserves

3 tablespoons whiskey

1 Tbsp chipotle chili powder (or minced chipotle in adobo)

1 Tbsp brown sugar

1 Tbsp ancho chili powder

1 tsp kosher salt

1 tsp freshly ground black pepper

Oroweat sandwich thins

spinach leaves

brie, one ounce per sandwich

Combine whiskey, preserves and chipotle powder (or chipotle chiles), set aside. In a separate bowl combine brown sugar, chili powder, salt and pepper. Rub flank steak with spice/sugar blend until well coated. You will use nearly all of the rub. Grill the flank steak over medium high heat for 3-4 minutes, then turn and grill the opposite side for 3-4 minutes. Brush top side of steak with whiskey sauce and grill two minutes more, then flip and brush the opposite side with glaze and grill two minutes more to caramelize both sides of the steak. Remove from heat and tent with aluminum foil while steak rests. Grill mushrooms over medium-high heat until cooked through. Slice meat thinly across the grain and arange 3 ounces on sandwich bun, top with mushrooms, brie and spinach leaves. Enjoy!

Re-learning portions has been an adventure. It makes me think back to all the bowls (yes, plural) of pasta I used to eat. Sometimes two bowls of spaghetti in one meal! Ugh! It’s embarrassing now, but at the time it was just delicious. Of course, about 1 minute after the last forkful, it was uncomfortable. Buttons had to be undone, posture had to be relaxed, because, my brain is apparently a long way from the stretch sensors in my stomach and the telegraph line (you’ve got yours and I’ve got mine… – 10 points if you can tell me the next line) is a little bit slow. Now that I weigh everything, I can see how much more I was eating over what I should have been eating. The funny thing is, I’m not any more hungry after dinner now, but I’m also not struggling to take a deep breath and I’m not sluggish and uncomfortable. A definite improvement!

Tonight’s dinner started out as a bit of an indulgence. I was wanting pasta with my shrimp and a nice sauce to go with and I had a pretty good amount of points left for dinner. Once I put the recipe in Weight Watchers Recipe Tracker and made a few tweaks, it actually came out very points friendly at only 11 points per serving, including the pasta! Did I mention it has wine? and BUTTER! I would dare say it has too much butter (cue sound of tires screeching to a halt)! I dialed back the butter in the recipe below and I bet you won’t miss it, because you’ll still taste it. So without further ado, here’s your pasta and butter dish!

Shrimp Piccata on Pasta

(makes 4 servings)

adapted from Epicurious

1 pound of shrimp (I used pre-cooked, peeled shrimp)

2 Tbsp unsalted butter, room temperature

1 Tbsp all purpose flour

1/3 cups white wine

4 cloves garlic, minced

1/4 cup capers, rinsed and drained

1/4 cup lemon juice, freshly squeezed

1/3 cups fat free, reduced-sodium chicken broth

8 ounces capellini

I also added some red bell pepper, diced (for color)

Bring some water to boil in a large pot. Once boiling, add pasta and cook until al dente. Remove from heat, but do not drain.

While the pasta is cooking, combine 1 Tbsp of the butter with the flour to make a thick paste, set aside. Heat wine, stock, garlic, and lemon juice over medium heat until boiling. Add flour/butter mixture and whisk until incorporated. Continue to boil until thickened, about 2 minutes. Add the capers, parsley, remaining butter (red peppers, if you are using them) and shrimp and toss to coat. Heat only until shrimp is warm, don’t over cook unless you like rubbery shrimp.

Drain pasta and divide evenly among four plates. Using a slotted spoon, remove shrimp and place over pasta. The remaining sauce can be divided among the four plates. Serve with a nice salad, or my favorite stand-by, sauteed spinach. Enjoy the decadence of an 11 point meal!

One of my favorite pre-weight watchers foods, that is actually one of my favorite post weight watchers foods has to be seared tuna. I love Ahi tuna’s mild flavor and melt in your mouth tenderness. I even love Ahi completely raw where the flavor is even more mild and fresh and the texture is like that of a perfectly medium rare tenderloin – not mushy, just spoon tender. Yum! I occasionally buy sashimi grade tuna and either sear it or just chop it up with some Japanese spicy mayo and eat it on a cracker with some avocado, but today I decided to have seared tuna for lunch.

I poked around the internet looking for inspiration, all the while thinking about coating the tuna in sesame seeds, but feeling like it needed something more. I came across this recipe from Steamy Kitchen and incorporated some of it into my version. I didn’t have any wasabi lying around, but I did have some teriyaki marinade from Central Market. I read the ingredients from the bottle of Asian sesame seeds I had and noticed that it contained some spices (garlic, sweet red pepper flakes, green chili flakes, turmeric, and ginger) along with the seeds. The following is what I ended up with. It is paired with 2/3 cup of sushi rice and a stir fried zucchini with 1/3 of a red bell pepper. The tuna was definitely the star! Total WW points for the whole plate, 9 points. Yes, NINE, for the whole meal. Woohoooo!

Note: If you are afraid of eating raw/undercooked fish, just turn the heat down a little and cook it longer, but please try it a little rare someday. It really is a completely different taste, less fishy, and as long as you are eating sashimi grade, it is safe. Twenty years of eating raw tuna and I’m still kicking! The Japanese have been doing it for slightly longer.

Here’s what I used:

1 95g piece of sashimi grade Ahi (yellow fin) tuna

1/4 cup Central Market Teriyaki Sauce/Marinade

1/4 cup Adams Reserve Asian Spice Rub (purchased at HEB)

1 tsp toasted sesame oil

sea salt, to taste

freshly ground black pepper

Heat a well seasoned cast iron skillet (or stainless steel) over medium to medium-high heat and add oil. Meanwhile pat the tuna steak dry, then place it on a shallow dish with the teriyaki sauce to marinate briefly, turning to coat each side. When I say briefly, I mean no more than 2 minutes per side. On another shallow dish or plate, spread the Asian rub and place the tuna on the seeds, turning to coat all sides. Sprinkle a little salt and pepper and pat, to adhere the seeds/seasonings to all sides.

Place the steak into the pre-warmed pan and cook for about 2 -3 minutes, then turn and cook the opposite side for 2-3 minutes. I like to sear mine all the way around, so I also use tongs to hold the steak on its side and sear each side for about 1 minute each. You don’t want your heat too high because you don’t want to burn your sesame seeds, causing them to taste bitter and burnt, so if you are cooking your steak until it is cooked through, turn your heat down a little. Once the tuna is seared all the way around, you can tent it in some foil to keep it warm while you stir fry your veggies. I cooked mine using 1 tsp olive oil and medium-high heat. If you are making the sushi rice, you will need to start that well before you start the fish as it takes the longest to cook. I hope you will try this slightly exotic dish, because I really think you will like it.

I know my tuna looks very raw in these pictures, but remember, I like it all the way raw, just cook yours a little longer to taste.

Okay, this might be one of my new favorites because it is tasty, low in WW points and easy to make. I made fish tacos last night using mahi mahi and a recipe I found at epicurious. The mahi mahi fillets are only two points each and I didn’t even eat a whole one! One tricky aspect of calculating points on this one was the use of a marinade made of olive oil and spices. I checked with the Weight Watchers web site and community boards and while most people said they don’t count the points for marinade, I opted to count some.

The tacos are a nice blend of spicy and sweet, crunchy and tender. I hope you like them as much as I did!

Here’s what you need:

1-2 mahi mahi fillets

1/4 cup canola oil

3 Tbsp fresh lime juice

4 tsp red chili powder

1 tsp ground cumin

1 tsp ground coriander

4 cloves garlic, minced

kosher salt, to taste

corn tortillas

cabbage, sliced very thin

carrots, petite dice

2 tsp honey

2 tsp fresh lime juice

2 Tbsp minced red onion (I omitted this)

2 tsp minced jalapeños (I used canned diced jalapeños)

2 tsp chopped cilantro

Asian sesame seeds

coarsely cracked black pepper

Kosher salt, to taste

pico de gallo (I omitted this)

Combine the cabbage, 2 tsp lime juice, honey, red onion, jalapeños, cilantro, sesame seeds, salt and pepper in a large bowl. Toss to coat evenly. Set aside in the refrigerator.

In another bowl combine the olive oil, lime juice and spices to form a medium thick paste. Cut the fish into small, 1/2 inch strips and mix with marinade.

Heat a cast iron skillet over medium heat. You won’t need to add any oil, as the fish will have been coated in it. Once hot, remove the fish from the marinade and place in the preheated skillet. Cook, turning fish occasionally until cooked through, about 3-4 minutes. You’ll see that the fish turns white and the segments begin to flake apart. Heat corn tortillas in the microwave, or do like I do and heat them directly over a low flame on the stove. Place 3-4 pieces of mahi mahi in a corn tortilla and top with a generous portion of slaw and pico. Enjoy your low points dinner!

Total WW points for two tacos: 10 (it is really probably a little less, unless you eat all of the slaw. I only counted 1 Tbsp of the oil, again probably over estimating)

Yesterday was a day of mixed emotions. Looking back, I feel kind of ridiculous about the whole thing. I went to the gym after working Sunday night to meet my gym buddy and fellow Weight Watcher, Eileen. It was the big one week weigh-in. I was pumped! I just knew I had lost three pounds. I’d been good all week, using only an average of 30.2 of my 40 allotted daily points, had only had one “skinny” Texas Martini at happy hour this week and had worked out six days out of seven! I was walking tall and feeling good….until I stepped on the scale. It turns out I lost 1.8 pounds. I know, I should have been happy, right? That’s what everyone told me, and I was…sort of. Mostly I was disappointed and discouraged. I mean, I was happy I lost, just not happy with the amount.

I don’t know how many of you know how Weight Watchers works, but basically, you are given a number of daily “points” along with a weekly allowance of flex points. You can also earn activity points based on the type and duration of exercise you do. These points are then traded for food. Some foods are free (most fruits and veggies) and the rest have a points value based on the fat, protein, carbs and fiber content. Choose wisely, young grasshopper, and you can stay full and satisfied while staying within your points. This is exactly what I did. I made conscious decisions to eat healthy foods and chose not to have the indulgences I usually allow myself. I could have, for example, had a regular martini, or two at happy hour and definitely had the points accumulated for it, but chose to get the sugar-free option. I could have stopped off at Starbucks before work and had a grande chai soy latte, but didn’t. I only used my daily points and sometimes found myself well below them, albeit unintentionally.

My disappointment stemmed from a fear that if I ever did use all the points I’m allowed, that I would not lose, or worse yet, that I would gain! I felt a little defeated and couldn’t seem to shake it. The odd thing, is that where I might have given up and eaten something comforting (read bad for me), I instead ate almost nothing that day. The nurse in me knows that any time you start a diet, or in my case a change in your normal way of eating, where you consume less calories, you convince your body to hold on to its stored fat. I know this only lasts for a week or two before the ol’ body falls in line and realizes there’s a change in how it’s going to be managed. I know this, and yet, I was devastated.

I am so thankful for my Facebook friends. They, who have been cheering me on daily when I post about going to the gym or eating something healthy, were also there to pick me up yesterday and tell me to be strong and keep it up. I’ll admit I whined excessively and I needed to have myself verbally bitch-slapped out of my mood. So thank you to Eileen’s husband, David who told me I was done whining. That I didn’t put the weight on overnight and I wasn’t going to get rid of it overnight. Thank you to Frank, who reminded me what I already know about my body holding on to the calories that it thinks won’t be coming anymore (and they won’t, dear body, but we’re going to learn to live without as many of them). Thank you to every “you can do it” and every “don’t give up” because, even though sometimes we think we stand alone, it’s nice to know that we don’t.